God's New Bible

The Gospel According to St. John

Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic

- Chapter 4 -

1
When Jesus realized that the Pharisees were aware He (a) was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John
2
(although it was not Jesus who baptized, but His disciples),
3
He left Judea and returned to Galilee.
4
Now He had to pass through Samaria.
5
So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6
Since Jacob’s well was there, Jesus, weary from His journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.(b)
7
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
8
(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9
You are a Jew,” said the woman. “How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)(c)
10
Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11
Sir,” the woman replied, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then will You get this living water?
12
Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?”
13
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.
14
But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
15
The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16
Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17
I have no husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said to her, “You are correct to say that you have no husband.
18
In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. You have spoken truthfully.”
19
Sir,” the woman said, “I see that You are a prophet.
20
Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21
Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23
But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.
24
God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
25
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”
26
Jesus answered, “I who speak to you am He.”

The Disciples Return and Marvel

27
Just then His disciples returned and were surprised that He was speaking with a woman. But no one asked Him, “What do You want from her?” orWhy are You talking with her?”
28
Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people,
29
Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
30
So they left the town and made their way toward Jesus.
31
Meanwhile the disciples urged Him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32
But He told them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33
So the disciples asked one another, “Could someone have brought Him food?”
34
Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
35
Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe (d) for harvest.
36
Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together.
37
For in this case the sayingOne sows and another reapsis true.
38
I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the hard work, and now you have taken up their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

39
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”
40
So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days.
41
And many more believed because of His message.
42
They said to the woman, “We now believe not only because of your words; we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man truly is the Savior of the world.”

Jesus Heals the Official’s Son

(Matthew 8:5–13; Luke 7:1–10)
43
After two days, Jesus left for Galilee.
44
Now He Himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.
45
Yet when He arrived, the Galileans welcomed Him. They had seen all the great things He had done in Jerusalem at the feast, for they had gone there as well.
46
So once again He came to Cana in Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.
47
When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Him to come down and heal his son, who was about to die.
48
Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”
49
Sir,” the official said, “come down before my child dies.”
50
Go,” said Jesus. “Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at His word and departed.
51
And while he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive.
52
So he inquired as to the hour when his son had recovered, and they told him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.(e)
53
Then the father realized that this was the very hour in which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and all his household believed.
54
This was now the second sign that Jesus performed after coming from Judea into Galilee.

Footnotes

(a)4:1 Literally When therefore Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus; NE, WH, BYZ, and TR When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus
(b)4:6 That is, about noon
(c)4:9 Tischendorf does not include this sentence.
(d)4:35 Literally white
(e)4:52 That is, one in the afternoon
1
Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John
2
(although Jesus himself didn’t baptize, but his disciples),
3
he left Judea and departed into Galilee.
4
He needed to pass through Samaria.
5
So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6
Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.(a)
7
A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
8
For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9
The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
10
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
11
The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. So where do you get that living water?
12
Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his children and his livestock?”
13
Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again,
14
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
15
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I don’t get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw.”
16
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17
The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’
18
for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.”
19
The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
20
Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
21
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
22
You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews.
23
But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers.
24
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25
The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ.(b) When he has come, he will declare to us all things.”
26
Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.”

The Disciples Return and Marvel

27
Just then, his disciples came. They marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, “What are you looking for?” or, “Why do you speak with her?”
28
So the woman left her water pot, went away into the city, and said to the people,
29
Come, see a man who told me everything that I have done. Can this be the Christ?”
30
They went out of the city, and were coming to him.
31
In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32
But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
33
The disciples therefore said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”
34
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
35
Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the harvest’? Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already.
36
He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit to eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
37
For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’
38
I sent you to reap that for which you haven’t labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

39
From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, “He told me everything that I have done.”
40
So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed there two days.
41
Many more believed because of his word.
42
They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

Jesus Heals the Official’s Son

(Matthew 8:5–13; Luke 7:1–10)
43
After the two days he went out from there and went into Galilee.
44
For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
45
So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went to the feast.
46
Jesus came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water into wine. There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.
47
When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him and begged him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
48
Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe.”
49
The nobleman said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
50
Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
51
As he was going down, his servants met him and reported, sayingYour child lives!”
52
So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour,(c) the fever left him.”
53
So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” He believed, as did his whole house.
54
This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judea into Galilee.

Footnotes

(a)4:6 noon
(b)4:25 “Messiah” (Hebrew) and “Christ” (Greek) both mean “Anointed One”.
(c)4:52 p.m.